


Made of Stone

by thesaroscycle



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Ill update tags as i go, M/M, Mary is dead, Neil was with his father until he was 16, Panic Attacks, and then everything gets better, but is mentioned a bit, lmao idk what this is, nathan is in prison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2019-10-30 03:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17821277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaroscycle/pseuds/thesaroscycle
Summary: David Wymack assumed, like everyone else, that  Nathaniel Wesninski had died nine years ago when he'd been cremated after dying from a fatal illness. He, like everyone else, was proven very wrong when the Butcher is finally arrested for his crimes, and David Wymack is faced with the undead Butcher's son himself--and his gun.Or: Wymack is a cop and finds Neil after a raid on his father, and he takes him in.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting for a while and I wanted to post something rip. Let me know if you want more of this? I have a lot of ideas for this AU but idk if anyone would be interested. I also have a whole list of WIPs for aftg and am always willing to talk about them, so hmu if you want to know lmao  
> This is not edited and unfinshed, but i will continue if people want me to!! thank you for reading, enjoy!

David remembered years ago, when they had first started building the case, asking about the Butcher’s son. The last documented picture of him had been of him three years previous on the first day of kindergarten, all rosy cheeks and messy red hair. After that he’d disappeared from the system, the school likely paid to believe the excuse of a deathly sickness—the school, and the doctors who had pronounced him dead, and the funeral home that cremated him.

“What about Nathaniel?” He’d asked, just as they finished up the meeting.

One of the senior officers looked baffled. “What about him?”

“I mean is there any chance he’s still in the house?” As far as they knew it wouldn’t have been the first time someone had gone missing, only to show up months later recently dead and with the Butcher’s signature all over it.

Most of the other people had left the room, but the few left looked at him sadly. They knew just as well as he did he had a soft spot for kids—not only because he wanted to believe in some kind of fair chance for them, but also because of his now eight-year-old son, Kevin. The co-worker closest to him reached out and patted his shoulder.

“He’s the child of the Butcher, son,” He said, despite them being only a few years older than him and having been on the field only a year longer than him. “If he was still alive, we wouldn’t want to find him the way he was.”

At the time he’d nodded, dropping it; looking back on it, he’d wished he’d pushed a little more, to try to find some kind of proof of foul play. He was sure if he tried hard enough they’d find something, but he let it go, trying not to look at the picture of the smiling boy in the file and think of his son at home.

 

 

David had expected a lot when he joined the force. He knew there was corruption, and violence, and people who got away with things just because they could, but he looked past that if he could help it—he knew somewhere there were good cops, people who just wanted justice for those wronged.

Like everything, it was worse when he actually experienced it. Knowing something beforehand never really helped anybody, and David was disappointed to see the same could be said in his job, too. Even thirty years on the force, he’d seen a lot of things he wished he hadn’t, things he wanted to forget, things he never wanted his family to see.

There were some good things they did too, though. The little good things that happened are what kept him in the job. He saw kids being reunited with their families, people relieved as they saw the people who’d hurt them put in prison, people that come from ruined pasts heal and be healed by the people around them. Then there were times like today, were the dusty case of clues and unsolved murders finally got put to rest.

At first, it had been a noise complaint. A neighbor calling about things crashing and people yelling in the house next door; a normal call until they were told the address. Then, there was practiced movement, something they’d all gone through at least once. People were called, warrants were signed, teams were asked for backup. It was a big thing for one call, but it was a big hit if they could catch The Butcher in the act.

David was in one of the last teams heading out, meant to go in to help and to search the house of any other suspicious activity. He didn’t mind not being on the front lines; he’d seen enough of the Butcher’s work already to never want to see it again. They were sent in after the Butcher and all his people were sent away, to check rooms for any other evidence they might need. He avoided the basement, knowing they had it on lockdown; the empty ambulance outside and the people in white suits walking in and out from a trapdoor in the floor was telling enough for David to know no one had survived The Butcher’s last scene.

He’d later find out it had been his wife they’d found—Mary Wesninski, previously Hatford. They only had a name for the victim after the dental records came  in, and David was truly glad he hadn’t been one of the first people in; as it was, he’d gone home after the whole mess and hugged his wife as long and as tight as he could.

The rest of the house looked just like any other three story house in Baltimore, but David realized very soon why it still left an odd taste in his mouth. Everything was set perfectly—the things on display in shelves, the beds and sheets, the pictures on the walls—nothing used or even touched, not a hair out of place. It all looked unlived in, a perfect snapshot of what a high-class family would live in if checked and double checked by curious eyes and police. Every room looked pristine and untouched, some filled with stale air like they hadn’t been cleaned or even opened in a long time. A room on the second floor contained a twin-size bed made with a duvet covered in stars, and a chest of toys that looked like it used to lock. David wondered if the child who’d slept there had ever played with the toys inside, and what had become of him—and then stopped when he thought of his own kid at home.

The last room on the floor checked, he was nearly ready to go back down the stairs until he opened what he thought was a closet and stared up a flight of stairs.

David pulled out his gun and made a slow trek to the door at the top. The attic had not been listed on their detail of the house, but the basement was also said to be blocked off, so he wasn’t surprised to find something like this. Stepping up onto the landing, his hand on the doorknob, he prepared to see something gruesome and probably would require a good amount of repression for him to forget. Then he silently pushed the door open and almost stepped straight into the barrel of a gun.

The only thing he can tell before he looks at the person behind it is that it’s a pistol, and that it will kill him at this range even if it’s pointed at his chest and not his head, and that it’s shaking in the way that tells you the person holding it did not have much experience with guns but wouldn’t hesitate to use it. Then he looked up into wide, blank blue eyes and didn’t think much else other than _he’s so young._

Despite only seeing the man in passing, David could tell immediately that the kid in front of him was Nathaniel Abram Wesninski, presumed dead and cremated nine years ago and the Butcher’s son. He was 16 now, his mind unhelpfully provided, because after seeing his picture in the Butcher’s file he couldn’t stop thinking about how he was only a year younger than Kevin, who was starting his junior year in high school soon. David couldn’t help comparing the two, Kevin’s tall and lanky frame to this kid’s short and thin one, Kevin’s green excited eyes and Nathaniel’s emotionless blue ones. The only tell he was feeling anything at all was the shaky hold he had on the handle of his gun, and the way he looked close to passing out.

“Put down your gun,” he says, and David hates how young he sounds as he lays his gun on the stairway and kicks it into the room, hands held behind his head. Nathaniel seems to struggle with what he wants to say before whispering, “Where are my parents?”

“Your father was arrested,” David says just as quiet, meeting the boy’s gaze and swallowing before he says, “We haven’t found your mother.”

His gaze seems to, impossibly, become blanker, as he says, “They were downstairs together. In the basement.”

David wants to say what they found in the basement might not have been his mother, but he knows as well as Nathaniel the chances were slim to none. Instead he says, “Your mother is dead,” because he won’t lie to the kid who looks like he’s seen and heard much worse than what David could ever say to him.

His hand still shudders when he hears it, along with his expression—a nearly invisible crack in his blank mask, something painful and hurting and heartbreaking for David to look at. He doesn’t look away, instead holding the kid’s gaze as he tries to cover up whatever he felt about his mother dying.

After a few moments of silence, and Nathaniel has regained his composure, David says, “How about we make a deal?” The kid just stares for a while, before motioning with his gun, _go on._ David almost smiles.

“If you help us put your father away—tell the police and whoever else wants to know what he’s done and what you’ve seen and heard—I can make sure you get out. You won’t have to go anywhere near your father, and you’ll be safe from the rest of his men.”

“Where would you put me?” He asks, still dead-eyed and blank.

David says, “You can come live with me,” before he thinks about what he’s saying, because he’s a fucking lunatic and has lost his mind. He can see it, though—it’s not as if he and Abby hadn’t thought about fostering, and Kevin had always acted indifferent to the thought of another sibling, even if he’d gotten the same look he made when he was already excited about something. It’s really something he should talk about with his family first, and something he should think about too, because the kid looks like he hasn’t seen any sun in years and had been missing since he was seven—but doesn’t regret a word when the gun shakes to a stop, and the arm holding it drops, pistol clattering to the ground.

Nathaniel still looks unmoved for a few moments, blank and still and cold like freshly fallen snow, before it breaks completely and David nearly falls down the stairs with an armful of a silent, shaking Nathaniel.

David hasn’t looked back since.

 

 

The first few days were chaotic. After he made sure Nathaniel had gotten to the ambulance and promised to see him the next morning, and explained to his superiors and other officers about what had happened and planned how they were going to continue (with only a few cries of disbelief and words of warning) he’d gone home to wake up his family and explain what was happening and why he’d probably be at work a lot the next few weeks.

They both reacted how he thought they would—at first with horror when he told them who they’d arrested, then curiosity at whom he’d found and sadness tinged with excitement at what he’d promised. He apologized, but was shot down and told he’d made the right decision when faced with a gun and a missing child. Abby immediately started making plans, while Kevin just looked deep in thought before asking, quite seriously, if he’d have to share his room or if they’d give him the guest room.

David sat with Nathaniel through every interrogation, acting as his support and personal guard against assholes. The other cops in the precinct knew to tread carefully, since not only was he a kid but was suddenly _David’s_ kid. Others didn’t know better, however; at one point, the FBI had come in to talk to Nathaniel about what he’d done with his father, and David made sure they asked only what they needed to know no matter how many times they threatened to fire him for it.

Nathaniel got a deal giving him an out for whatever he might’ve done with his father if he told them everything he knew. David would not forget what he knew—what he was promised not to bring up after.

Finally, after days and days of healing and interrogating and negotiating, they were done. The trials were in a year or so, which left Nathaniel free from any other legal interaction until they inevitably came to check and re-check before then.

That left them both driving home in the middle of the day, Nathaniel slouched in his seat and looking out the window, eyes bloodshot and squinting. David was in the middle of explaining the living situation—they’d all agreed they’d best get out of Baltimore, though Nathaniel didn’t know this—when he interrupted.

“Can you—Could you call me something else?” He asked quietly, nervously staring straight ahead, still as stone. David wondered if he realized he was pressed against the door, as far away from David as he could get, or if it was subconscious; he couldn’t decide which was worse.

“What else would you like me to call you?” He replied evenly.

From the corner of his eye he saw him look at him, either in surprise or to make sure he wasn’t teasing him. Then he looked away again and said, “Neil,” almost too quietly to be heard over the engine.

David nodded, and rather than ask _why_ , he just said, “It suits you.” 

Neil relaxed infinitesimally, David turned down the road home, and that was that. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this is so late and so short and so,, , bad asfhgh it's basically what I should've added to the last chapter but didn't  
> I promise the chapters will be longer and better as I figure out where i want this to go  
> i will be continuing this though!!! i got a lot more responses than i thought i would lol but i will be writing this fully, albeit a little slowly  
> thank you so much for reading & commenting!!!!!!  
> ALSO tw for a panic attack! please be safe loves   
> Enjoy!

He stayed home with Neil and Kevin throughout the summer after they moved south—he and Abby had been looking for better places to live anyway, and Baltimore stopped feeling so homely after a while. Just before summer ended they were on the road, all their belongings in the moving truck and all of them packed into Abby’s truck, David’s car returned to the precinct. They’d decided to drive down not only because it was cheaper and only half a day away, but because when they mentioned flying Neil had gotten the look they all knew as his pre-panic look, before he told them he was fine and went to go freak out in another corner of the house. They manage to change the conversation before he could freak out about it too much, and hadn’t brought it up again.

The new house had enough rooms for all of them, with enough room for them to grow and flower beds in the front and back in case Abby wanted to plant something next spring. The moving truck got there before them, Abby and Kevin going inside to tell which box went where. David stopped by Neil, who was stood on the sidewalk up to the porch staring up at the house.

“What d’you think?” He asked, learning enough of Neil in the last few months to know he wouldn’t startle if he knew he was there first.

Neil didn’t look away from the house, but crossed his arms and hunched farther into his (Kevin’s) hoodie. After a while, he gave him a quiet, “Thank you,” rather than an answer, which David just scoffed at.

“Anyone would’ve done it, kid.” Neil looked at him that time, raising an eyebrow that told him just how much he believed _that_ statement. “Alright, not anyone, but anyone with a heart and two shits to give about kids.” He paused and cleared his throat before continuing roughly, “We’re happy to, Neil.”

He looked away again, nodding, and didn’t flinch as David clapped his shoulder and waved him inside, eager to show him his much bigger, not-guest room upstairs, smiling the whole way.

After that, both he and Abby decided it would be best that he got out of the force and stay to help Neil, since he seemed to trust him the most, while she worked as a doctor at a hospital nearby. David could tell it nearly killed her to admit it; she was a doctor for a reason, after all, and wanted so desperately to help and heal and fix the kid that had become theirs. She realized just as well as he did that it was better for Neil to be around David more while he adapted to such drastic changes. Also, Abby made much more than David did hourly, which helped with the new expenses for their charge.

That was just the start. After that, it was David’s job to make sure he was getting used to the new environment, driving him to therapy they’d asked him to go to, and making sure he and Kevin were getting along alright. At first, they’d circled each other like wild cats, Neil sticking close to David while Kevin did the same. David knew Kevin wanted to talk to him, to get to know him and help him just as much as he and Abby did. Neil didn’t trust him, though, and was giving Kevin no chances to prove himself like David had.

He knew the problem had fixed itself when he’d walked into the living room to find Kevin helping Neil through a panic attack. He’d had a few while he’d been with them, but that was to be expected for a kid with his past, and David had known how to deal with them since Kevin used to get them frequently. When he saw Neil blank and shaking as he was, breath coming in too fast and short to be normal, he brought up all the phrases and tips he’d gotten from Abby and experience and walked in to help before he saw Kevin sitting with him, talking him through quietly, making sure he wasn’t touching him but close enough to be grounding.

David watched as Neil slowly calmed down and Kevin kept talking to him softly, until Neil thanked him and asked how he knew what to do, too. David left them both to it, not noticed in the doorway, and was pleased to see them still sitting together later in the day, Kevin explaining something happening on the TV  with Neil asking questions occasionally.

After that, they were near inseparable—and the only reason Neil got through homeschooling so easily. He was eager enough to learn, but wasn’t really school oriented, and his lack of proper schooling left him in the dark on subjects most people would know by his age. He had been taught by his mother and a few of his father’s associates the first few years, and then by books they bothered to leave in the attic, and then nothing at all. As far as David could tell, he’d been taught a lot of math and reading because it was the easiest, but struggled with science and history because it hadn’t been offered to him. David knew enough science to help with what he needed up to high school, and Kevin had all his old assignments, with Abby to help fill in the gaps. When it came to history, David was at a loss; luckily, Kevin had an infatuation with old dead people, and filled him in on anything he knew that was interesting and at least was sort of taught at school.

“Besides,” Kevin said one night, “It’s not like they don’t just teach the same things over and over again. By the end of the school year, he’ll know everything we’ve learned the last twelve.”

After just a few weeks, they’d settled into an easy routine. Abby left for work after having a quick coffee with David and Neil, who woke up as soon as the sun rose (much unlike Kevin, who would sleep through the day if you let him). He and David would talk a little, watch the news, and generally feel awkward until Kevin rolled out of bed at noon with his alarm and something else to show Neil for the day.

That was another thing David was glad for: Kevin was always ready to show Neil the things he felt he needed to know right away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY ASDFGHJKL; 
> 
> i don't know how a whole month went by w/o me noticing, but here's this!! I'm trying to graduate in the next month and am writing my bb fic (that I am SO excited for) so updates might still be a bit slow, but I am definitely still writing this!!! It's unbeta'd and short, but i will be writing longer chapters as we go along.
> 
> ALSO thank you for comments fbhirgbnvin im so bad at replying to them but i read all of them and cry!!! i just never know how to respond hhhhh but THANK YOU <3<3<3
> 
> the next chapter might be up soon (maybe this week??) and will be in andrews pov ;^)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and enjoy!!!

It was only a matter of time until Abby went to greet their neighbors.

They only tried once they were moved in completely and were well into their routine, but Abby was eager and ready as soon as they were with a weekend and the ingredients David had picked up from the store. They had seen little from the house on to the right of them, the house on the left empty to be renovated and sold. There was only one car in the driveway, looking old enough to be a few miles away from the junkyard. David knew at least two people left the house, as he saw them leave regularly for what he assumed was work and school.

She convinced them all to go the day after she finished baking what looked like a plate of cookies—none of them had been let into the kitchen while she was cooking, since she knew better than to turn her back on them while she was baking. David was the one to knock on the door, stepping back and letting Neil hide behind him and Kevin.

The man to open the door was one David hadn’t seen yet, but he could only tell because of his casts: a sling under his right arm and the boot over his right leg were enough of a clue that this wasn’t the same blonde that he had seen being driven out of the house, but a sibling—a brother, or a twin. He was proven right when someone from inside the house yelled, “Andrew, you better not have opened that door without your crutches—“

Andrew’s twin stopped as soon as he saw the family in the doorway, then turned back around and walked farther into the house. They both looked around Neil and Kevin’s age, which made David sorry for their parents and glad that they were neighbors. That is until the twin came out with who David had seen driving their car: a tall, dark skinned man with long hair pulled back into a bun, who looked way too tired and way too young to be either of the twin’s parents.

“Hey! Sorry about the twins, they’re a little antisocial. How can I help you guys?” He sounded much happier than someone could realistically be on a Saturday morning, but David guessed it was just the way he was—or he was compensating for the moody teens behind him.

“Hi! We just moved in next door, and we thought we might get to know our neighbors. We made these for you,” Abby held out the plate of cookies, and Andrew stepped forward and grabbed them from behind, earning a look from the man David assumed was his guardian and another warning from his brother to _stop fucking walking and sit down_ before they disappeared back into the house. Abby took it all in stride. “I’m Abby, and this is my husband David, and these are our kids, Kevin and Neil.”

“Thank you,” the man said, looking genuinely grateful. “I’m Nicky, and the two assholes you just saw were my cousins, Aaron and Andrew. Uh, Andrew was the one in the cast, and Aaron was the angry one.”

Abby, the loving person that she is, asks, “Cousins?” And David can tell that’s the exact moment she decides she’s taking care of these kids, too. He can remember the moment she had done it with Neil, barely hours after they had come home: He’d gone to sleep in the guest room upstairs and came back down looking every bit as young as he was, the clothes he hadn’t changed out of wrinkled and his hair mussed and sitting up on one side. Abby had gotten him a glass of water and told him where to find something to eat and where the mugs were, and he’d given her a quiet ‘thank you’. She’d made the same face she was making then: fond, and sad, and endlessly ready to help.

Nicky smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, there was an accident a month ago that left them with me. Are you two going to the high school down the street?” He asked Kevin and Neil this, pointedly changing the subject.

“Columbia, yeah,” Kevin answered, smiling his polite-new-people smile. “Neil’s a junior, and I’m in my last year.”

“Maybe you’ll have classes with the twins! Aaron’s a senior, but Andrew missed the last month of school and they wouldn’t let him take his finals late, so he has to re-take junior year.” The smile was wiped from his face, anger replacing it. _That,_ David could understand—losing something over unfair rules with no exceptions, with no chance of winning.

“It would be nice for Neil to have someone he knew in his classes, since it’s his first year in public school. Maybe we could meet up another time? Have you all over for dinner one night?” David already knew it would be a yes since it was Abby who asked.

Nicky’s 100-watt smile was back again. “Yeah, that would be great! I don’t work weekends and have Wednesday and Friday nights off, so just let me know! I’m so glad y’all moved in; the last people in that house were scary as hell . . .”

In the end, Abby and Nicky agreed on the next Wednesday, when they were all free, and they walked back planning on what to make for dinner that night, with Kevin asking Neil what he thought of the twins behind them.

David could practically hear Neil’s shrug as he said, “They seemed fine. Maybe they’ll know something about the sports clubs at school.”

David had the feeling he’d be seeing a lot more of their neighbors than he’d thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao whats up im back within a week this time asdfgh
> 
> I finally know what I wanna do with this fic mostly so!! updates should be longer and not take as long to update 
> 
> Im also working on a lot of other fics that will get done at some point probably hhhh 
> 
> ALSO I forgot to mention this before but the fic is named after a daughter song of the same name! its heavy but really good
> 
> anyway! please enjoy!! If there are any mistakes lmk bc i don't edit very well rip
> 
> TW for this chapter: thoughts of death, child abuse, description of car crash and injuries, medications, and mental health issues. 
> 
> this chapter is not as heavy as that makes it sound but still!! stay safe, loves. You can dm me on tumblr @thesaroscycle if you need anything described/summarized.

If anyone had asked Andrew where he thought he’d be by senior year a few years ago, and he felt like answering honestly, he would’ve said _dead._ Not because he was actively trying to die most days, but because he genuinely expected to die before eighteen. The end of junior year had pretty much only proved it right, even if he had survived. Now he felt stuck—like he was in some weird in-between space where time didn’t really pass, but passed overhead instead, just out of reach.

Like all things in his memory, he remembered the night vividly: Andrew only realized Tilda was too high to be functioning after he’d already gotten in the car with her, and was nearly glad for it, until there were bright headlights in the windshield and a hand still pulling his hair out as he tried to tug the wheel into the other lane. He felt it being jerked out of his hands, figured he’d done his part, and closed his eyes, turning to cover his face into the seat.

In the hospital, the police explained to him and his silent twin what had happened to their mother—dead on impact, the reason for the crash very clearly shown in a blood test that came up positive for a page of different drugs and medications. They asked if they had any living relatives, and Aaron spoke for the first time that day to mention their Aunt, Uncle and cousin. Andrew looked over at where his brother was sitting by the window, wondering why that had been the first thing he’d said all day in front of Andrew, then brushed it off. They both had just lost their dear mother, after all.

In the months he’d been living with Aaron and his mother, he’d only heard about their elusive cousin Nicky in Germany a handful of times, but the day after Andrew left the hospital and he and Aaron were back in the house together, Aaron told him flatly that he was coming to take care of them until they were eighteen. This meant nothing in particular to Andrew; his head was still aching despite the pain medication he was on, and he’d been told very sternly by all of the nurses not to do anything other than lie around for a couple weeks. Andrew wouldn’t have had a problem with this, except it was the last quarter of the year he was missing, which left him a whole year behind his brother unless he could convince the school to let him take his exams at home.

Nicky came like a wave of jetlag and forced exuberance, obviously upset about having to leave whatever he had in Germany and come back to his family, which Andrew was sure to blame for his move in the first place; anyone related to Aaron’s mother was bound to be just as bad, if not worse. Nicky filled the house up by himself, both the twins sticking to their loaded silences and avoided glances. Andrew couldn’t figure out why Aaron was so mad at him when Tilda was the only one who had died, but didn’t want to ask, because he was mad at Aaron for being mad at him.

Aaron went back to school without him, Nicky was unsuccessful in getting the school to let Andrew pass junior year without taking his tests, and Andrew tried his best to put himself back into time’s flow. His casts came off, though his arm still ached when he moved it too much, and he still couldn’t hear all that well out of his right ear. The stitches were out, but the scars were still there, and he still woke up with the sound of metal crunching, hair soaked with sweat that felt too much like blood. Everything lingered on his skin longer than it should’ve, everything registering slower than it should’ve. Days were spent listless and uncaring, time still a suggestion rather than a rule. He was assured by his doctor it was a side effect of head trauma, and he would’ve believed them if he hadn’t felt like that before the accident, and if he hadn’t lied to the good doctor in the first place.

In the end, summer break started with Andrew surprised he’d made it at all. Suddenly, he had the next few months completely to himself, what with Aaron still ignoring him and Nicky understanding that, most days, Andrew needed space. The next four months stretched out before him, the only thing on his schedule his short hours at night alone while his twin and cousin worked and the summer reading he wanted to do—until they had neighbors move in next door, who came over to say hello. This would’ve been fine, if Nicky hadn’t decided for all of them that they would continue to meet up with said neighbors for dinner every once in a while.

The next Wednesday they were invited over came way too fast, time slipping away again. Neither he nor Aaron wanted to go, but they both knew it was useless to try and argue their way out of it with Nicky, so there they were: two real fucking annoyed teenagers and one very happy barely-adult, met at the door by a woman who seemed to look at them all once before smiling at them like they’d done the nicest thing in the world.

Abby was a kind-faced woman who did not match her surly-looking husband at all, though they both had obviously been together for many years. David seemed to have a face permanently set in a scowl, though Andrew assumed it was more from his years as an officer (which he’d mentioned off-hand to Nicky) than a real dislike for everything around him. They sat and chatted to Nicky about the neighborhood, both seeming to understand that neither of them wanted to be there. When it was finally close to dinner time, and Andrew had set his crutches down before being helped to the kitchen table, David called down the other two, who had been hiding upstairs until then.

The first kid down the stairs was very much David’s kid, all black hair and dark skin and taller than Nicky. He gave a smile and offered a hand to Nicky, which made him melt instantly; Andrew imagined Nicky trying to convince them to befriend him so they could have such a _nice young man_ over more often and nearly laughed.

The next kid came downstairs, and Andrew nearly left then and there. He was very clearly not related to David or Abby; his skin was a few shades too dark to be tanned, but nowhere near Kevin and his father, and where the rest of the family was tall and muscular he was short and thin. He didn’t stand an inch over Abby, and Andrew was sure if they stood back-to-back they’d be the same height. His auburn hair and bright blue eyes stood out against the sharp panes of his face, and even from where Andrew was standing he could see freckles and moles splattered across his nose and cheeks. Kevin sat across from Aaron, and Neil sat in front of Andrew, leaving Andrew nowhere to look but down at his plate.

Andrew tuned back into the conversation, more about plans to meet up and phone numbers being passed around as Abby and David doled out food, to keep his attention away from the slip of a boy across from him. Andrew heard Nicky mention again he’d be retaking junior year, and Abby’s happy, “Kevin’s a senior this year, so maybe they could help each other out.” Andrew knew without looking up from the table she was smiling, and once again thought about leaving when Neil looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

God, Andrew was so fucked this year.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, loves. i am very sorry for being late again, but this time i have (kind of) a good reason: i'm graduating week after next! after that is summer (and jobs, and moving out, and etc.) but i'll have way more time and energy to put into this guy and my other fics. 
> 
> that said, this is the only bit i've got edited, and it's not very long, so i'm sorry for that. soon (NOT A MONTH FROM NOW) i should have another chap up in neils pov that will be longer and well edited lol. 
> 
> for now, have this! i don't believe there are any warnings for this, but lmk if I do!!! thank you for reading even though i'm a mess lmao

The dinner ended without anyone leaving or getting hit, but now all Nicky would talk about were their new neighbors. Andrew was sure he was distracting himself from whatever he’d left behind halfway across the world, but he at least had the tact not to say so. As stubborn as both the twins were to not talk to each other until they both left for college, Nicky was just as persistent,  and Andrew was very tired of pretending not to hear him.

Every word out of either of them bolstered Nicky into action, starting conversations and looking overjoyed at their monosyllabic answers. Andrew figured he should try for Nicky if only because he knew how stressed he was, and he wanted to be the better person in his and his brother’s fighting; just because they couldn’t talk to each _other_ didn’t mean he couldn’t talk to Nicky.

However, this also meant Nicky figured they wanted to talk to other people to, which meant he accepted and invited their neighbors over for dinner, continuing to talk to them despite the twins wanting nothing to do with them. This left Andrew with the same stupid problem: should he not talk to them because he didn’t want to, or should he try because he owed Nicky, and because Aaron refused to?

At least he could appropriately blame his friendship to Kevin on the both of them when it went south.

Kevin really started talking to him after he realized that not only did the school they were going to have a football team, but that Andrew was on it up until a few months ago. When Andrew told him he couldn’t play anymore because of his injuries (which was a lie, but Andrew had only played because Aaron did and honestly hated it with a passion), he was quick to apologize before grilling him with questions on how the team was and whether Andrew thought he’d get on the team (Andrew didn’t see why not, since he was just like all the other football players: tall and not bad to look at, if Andrew was willing to crane his neck and put on his contacts that day; he supposed Aaron wasn’t the only reason he had joined the team, but any sense of attraction he’d had to his teammates ended as soon as he entered the locker room).

Andrew thought he might’ve been just as annoying as the sport itself, but kept talking to him despite it—Kevin didn’t mind when he didn’t speak or was seemingly indifferent to everything, and it was a little lonely being in their house, Nicky out for work and Aaron with school; even with they got home only Nicky would look in his direction. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if it was about fucking football.

Once Kevin started talking to him, it was only time until Neil started to, too; at least, according to Kevin. He wasn’t as crazy about the sport as Kevin was, but claimed he was almost as quiet as Andrew most of the time, and even if he did talk it wouldn’t all be about football like Kevin’s was. As soon as he met him, he realized why this was: Neil wasn’t a football fan as much as he was into soccer. According to him, it was the only thing he and Kevin disagreed about.

Andrew really didn’t know how he continued to attract jocks to him like fucking flies, but really hoped it stopped soon. At least if he was talking to Nicky he didn’t have to worry about it—Andrew specifically remembered Aaron trying to explain something to Nicky about football and him replying, “I’m much too gay to know anything about sports,” which Andrew related to wholeheartedly.

It wasn’t until a month into the summer that Andrew realized he had not only made friends with their neighbors, but had started to feel more settled at one point. Time had stopped slipping from him daily, and though he still couldn’t hear all that well out of his ear, having his casts taken off was downright _heavenly._

It was still enough to convince his doctor he needed a therapist. He argued against it, (more for his cousin’s sake than his own; with only Nicky and Aaron working most days, and Tilda’s life insurance nearly completely depleted by hospital bills, Andrew was hoping he wouldn’t add another expense to the already long list of things he owed Nicky) but the doctor would have nothing of it, and recommended him a therapist he was sure would help.

His recommendation ended up being someone named Betsy Dobson, who lived fifteen minutes away from their house and specialized in trauma. Andrew thought the session would go like most of his doctors visits, but Nicky had asked him to try, at least a little, and promised if he did they could pick up Aaron from school and head to Sweetie’s.

Then, for some reason, Betsy Dobson had completely caught his attention. The first minute into their session and she was already winning him over with hot chocolate, despite the fact Andrew remembered very clearly seeing a sign saying they couldn’t have food and drinks in the facility. By the end of it, Dr. Dobson had gotten a full sentence out of him, and that was enough for him to come back the next week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick snippet of next chapter: 'Neil was one month into what he considered his new life and woke up every morning thinking he was back in Baltimore.' (it's a lot less angsty than it sounds, i promise.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) im sorry hhgghjjhghh
> 
> So heres this!! Sjjsjsjsn i promise there will be Plot soon, im still trying to get it all together in my head. I already have a few scenes written out (that i am very excited for) so. Yes. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!! And sticking around so long lmao 
> 
> Side note: my computer is old as shit and has stopped connecting to wifi, so if the formatting is fucked im sorry!! I had to transfer the file to my phone to post it, so. Yeah rip 
> 
> Tw: talk of death, mentioned character death, violence, panic attacks. Please be safe!!

Neil was one month into what he considered his new life and woke up every morning thinking he was back in Baltimore.

His therapist, one Betsy Dobson that worked at the nearest counseling center, said that it was normal for that to happen after what he went through—the events she only knew about from snippets she’d heard from him and whatever David had talked about when he had called her.

He had woken up in the same room, with the same bed, for nearly all his life. After his father decided he was too much work and a waste of time—he had cried too much at five years old, apparently—he had set up a room in the attic for him and came up once a day to teach him lessons. At first he was still let outside, went out on trips with his mother every once in a while, but even that had stopped after his mother had tried to escape. His father had almost killed her for it, and after that didn’t let them outside anymore.

As the years went by, Neil was more or less locked in the attic every day. They gave him whatever workbooks they could find and fed him often enough, but as his father came up to see him less and less, so did the rest of them; Neil couldn’t count on all of his fingers and toes the days he’d gone without eating anything because they had forgot.

It had been a few days since anyone had seen him when his mother came up. He knew whose footsteps came up the stairs, and even if it had been a long time since his mother had come to see him, he recognized her quite tread. She opened the door looking haggard and wane and handed him a gun. She looked into his eyes and told him that whoever came up the stairs next would try to kill him, _so he sure as hell better use the gun and use it well._

That was the last thing his mother had said to him. She heard her and his father yelling downstairs, heard them as they went down into the basement, heard even through closed doors and two stories between them, the sound of his mother dying.

He’d heard the police, too, the sounds of them finding his father, of his people dying, of them sweeping the house. He was sure he’d be forgotten, left to waste away in the attic of a house built on blood. Then footsteps had started coming up the steps, nice and slow, ones too heavy to be his mother and too light to be his father in his heavy boots.

The man who opened the door was not fast enough, dropping his gun when he said and putting his hands up.

Dr. Dobson asked if he’d felt bad about that part, when he told her. He didn’t—he was told he was going to die if he didn’t use a gun, and even if he was raised outside of the violence in his house, he was still raised just above it.

He didn’t add that he didn’t regret one thing when everything that night had landed him where he was, but the look Dr. Dobson gave him made him think she knew that already.

Kevin figured it out too, after a while, but only because they had rooms next to each other. Being the jock he was meant he woke up at the same time on the dot every morning, and the sounds of footsteps in the hall outside his door always made him wake up in a panic, not wanting to be caught off-guard if it _was_ his father.

It was also Kevin who helped with that particular fear, since as soon as he knew Neil was waking up the same time he did, he’d burst into his room and tell him it was time to wake up, bouncing the bed until he was out of bed and getting dressed. Neil always called him an asshole for it, but was really grateful for it. Hearing Kevin open his door in the mornings became the usual rather than the panic, and it was something he tried to thank him for in half-assed sports practices at the park.

Well. Most of the time, he thanked him. Other days, when he won their rock-paper-scissors battle of the day, they played soccer instead of Kevin’s beloved football, and then he kicked his ass as much as he could, still  trying to get his stamina up after years stationary.

Kevin, obsessive as he was with things he loved, never thought twice about helping Neil, even if he did complain about the not-so-serious stuff. Eventually, he was the one to convince Wymack to look for jobs around town before they got back to school, since Kevin was getting his license soon and Wymack wouldn’t need to be around all the time anymore. They weren’t hard-pressed for money, but Kevin knew better than anyone that Wymack would be at a loss for things to do once everyone was out of the house, since he functioned the same way.

It didn’t take long for Kevin to find someone else to talk to football about, namely one of the twins from next door. Neil hadn’t talked to either of them just yet, but Kevin had managed to rope them both into talking about football one way or another, even if one of them wasn’t playing anymore.

 

 

 

Nicky’s stubborn attempts to get Andrew and Aaron out of the house got increasingly more elaborate as the summer went on. As Andrew healed more and more, and Aaron got less and less closed off to both of them, they went along with them more often than not. He believed his ‘plan’ with the neighbors had gone so well for Andrew, and wanted both of them to talk more than they currently were—they were at a high of three sentences each a day, according to Nicky. He might’ve been joking, but it sounded pretty spot on to Andrew.

Nicky mentioned the local gym once Andrew was up and around enough, and his physical therapist had cleared him for most things. Andrew told them both he didn’t want to play anymore over dinner, and instead of the fight he expected, Nicky simply nodded and Aaron replied, “If you’re sure.”

Nicky got the look he usually got when he was around to see the twins interacting, so Andrew went on to say that he’d still go to the gym. He didn’t think either of them wanting to work out should have elicited so much excitement on Nicky’s part, but he and Aaron had also stayed inside the house for the whole first month of the summer.

For the next week or so, him and his twin settled into a weird routine where they worked out together without speaking, split up when Aaron decided to go play on the field next to the gym and Andrew decided he wanted to either wait until Nicky came to pick them up in the locker rooms or lift more weights if he felt up to it. He’d thought about getting into boxing, or some sort of self defense, and wondered whether Nicky would let him.

It was on a Friday that he’d gone looking for Aaron in the locker rooms, making sure he knew Nicky was on the way, when he ran into his neighbors.

He’d talked to Kevin a few times, mostly about football, even though Andrew had expressed his dislike of the sport. Andrew wonders if it’s all he talks about; he’s complaining to Neil about soccer when he walks into them in the locker room.

Andrew had only seen Neil a few times at their weird forced social gatherings, but he usually disappeared as soon as he’d finished eating. Andrew had gotten the impression he was shy, but he wouldn’t have guessed it looking at the way he interacted with Kevin.

“I just don’t get it,” Kevin was saying, already out of his gear with a bag over his shoulder.

“Get what, Kevin?” Neil had a smirk on his face as he packed the rest of his stuff in a duffle and closed his locker. “Why you suck so much at rock-paper-scissors, or why soccer is _obviously_ the superior sport?”He turned with his duffle over his shoulder and paused almost comically as he saw Andrew in the doorway.

Kevin stepped neatly next to Neil, seeing the look on his face and assuming the worst, but the glare on his face cleared as he saw who it was.

“Oh. Hi, Andrew. Do you need something?” Neil blinked between them, looking surprised.

“My brother. Was he in here?”

“He was out on the pitch a bit ago. “The dark look was back on his face. “I would’ve joined him, but—“

Neil stepped next to him, looking smug. “But _someone_ sucks at rock-paper-scissors.” He looked up at Kevin and nudged him with his elbow before holding his hand out to Andrew.

“I’m Neil. I don’t think I’ve ever introduced myself outside of our family’s weird dinner things, but Kevin talks about you a bit.”

Andrew shakes his hand quickly, watching the casual way Kevin shoves Neil for his comment and rolls his eyes after.

Aaron walks in just in time, looking surprised but covering it up quick. He nods at Andrew before grabbing his bag from his own locker and disappearing to the showers.

“Well, that’s out queue,” Kevin says as he grabs Neil’s hood and drags him past Andrew and to the door. Neil waves, walking backwards and hitting his shoulder on the door jam on the way out.

It was by far the weirdest encounter he’d had so far with his neighbors, but still hoped that it meant later family dinners wouldn’t be spent talking about sports with Kevin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h
> 
> lmao im sooo sorry i uhh?? finished school and stuff and then my brain went on vacation so. nothing got done rip
> 
> if ur still here!! thank you!!! i have Plans for a few chapters but also Not A Lot so i guess we'll see how this goes lol
> 
> uhh tw wise there's mentions of panic attacks, bad days, and Neil's past! 
> 
> thanks again if u stuck around!!! im doing my best rn and also writing. so many other wips. so YEAH maybe expect those if i ever finish them 
> 
> ALSO if yall r like me and cant read walls of text i fixed the last chap lmaooo
> 
> ENJOY

The next Friday, they were at Neil and Kevin’s house rather than the cousins, and Andrew was very glad that, unlike Kevin, Neil seemed to be able to talk about something other than sports.

There was an unusual amount of time before they ate that night, because Abby had offered to teach Nicky how to cook something that night, leaving him and Aaron and Kevin and Neil sat in the living room together.

It didn’t take long for Kevin and Aaron to start talking about football—as apathetic as Aaron tried to be about most things, he couldn’t help his excitement when he had someone else to talk to about it. Andrew began to zone out, knowing their conversation would last long after dinner had ended, when Neil stood and caught his eye.

They hadn’t talked since they met in the locker room, but Neil hadn’t made an active attempt to leave just yet; Andrew almost felt disappointed, until Neil jerked his head towards the stairs, the universal sign of _follow me if you don’t want to die of boredom._ What other choice did he have?

Andrew had never been farther into the house than the lower level, so he couldn’t help looking around as they walked upstairs. The photos on the walls were all fairly recent, the oldest a picture from what Andrew assumed was David and Abby’s wedding not too long ago; there was a picture from Kevin’s last high school from when he’d won an award, and a few pictures of his last football team. There was one picture, in the upstairs hallway that caught his eye; Andrew assumed it was from when they’d first moved in, all four of them standing in front of the house. It was the first picture of Neil Andrew had seen on the walls so far, and while Wymack and Abby didn’t seem like the kind of people to hide their family members, Andrew couldn’t help but feel wary. He knew kids and had _been_ the kid that was missing from every family photo. Not for the first time, Andrew wondered what circumstances had brought them here.

Neil stepped up next to Andrew, having turned back when he realized Andrew wasn’t next to him. Andrew turned to apologize—he didn’t want to point out anything that would make Neil uncomfortable—but when he saw the smile on Neil’s face, his mouth snapped shut.

He was looking at the picture like it was his most prized possession, like he’d never owned anything like a family picture before. That thought hit Andrew harder than he thought it would—he shouldn’t have been surprised by then, but seeing himself in other’s tragedy was always a painful reminder of his own.

“I’d never taken a family portrait before,” Neil said, echoing Andrew’s own thoughts.

 He remembered when Nicky had insisted they’d taken their own, not too long after they’d moved in. He said it was mostly for a friend of his, but he’d framed it and put it in their living room, as well as his home screen on his phone, at least for a short while. Andrew had complained it was blurry, at the time, his cousin’s own excited shaking leaving all of them slightly out of focus, but Nicky waved him off, claiming it was unimportant.

“Well,” He amended, “Not one that had mattered.”

Andrew nodded, because he understood, and followed Neil back to his bedroom.

It was on the small side, but Neil didn’t have much to fill it with anyway, it seemed. There was a used desk on one wall and a bed on the other, with a window in the middle, facing Andrew’s house. The walls were a pale blue, his bed in shades of gray, one poster hung above his desk of a soccer player Andrew didn’t know the name of.

Neil sat on his desk chair, fiddling with a pencil he’d grabbed off the desk and waved at the bed, silent permission for Andrew to sit down.

“Sorry if you wanted to stay down there, but I get very tired of football very fast, especially when Kevin has another person to talk at, and you looked like you needed a getaway, too.”

Andrew shrugged, thinking of the last few weeks when Kevin had gone on rants to Andrew and Neil had made himself scarce. “Aaron and I used to play, so I’m used to it.”

“I’m sorry you can’t anymore,” Neil said, looking genuinely sincere. “Kevin was talking about how you wouldn’t be able to play next year because of your leg.”

Andrew shrugged again, uncomfortable with the apology; it reminded him of Abby, somewhat. “That’s what I told him,” he said, folding his hands in his lap. “Though I was honestly getting tired of all the sports talk myself.”

Neil grinned at him, eyes scrunching a bit with the force of it, as he said, “I’ll make sure to keep that from Kevin. He’ll be insufferable otherwise.”

Andrew nodded, and allowed himself a small smile in return. He felt a bit like they’d clicked together, somehow; suddenly the next year didn’t seem so bleak.

 

 

The rest of the summer passed much the same way, though he and Neil met up regularly after that dinner. Kevin and Aaron joined them every once in a while, or one without the other, but it seemed like they had become friends too, and had finally talked about something other than football. Neil stayed at home with him on days when he couldn’t walk too well, rather than go to the gym with the other two junkies.

They started watching movies, which was how Andrew found out Neil had watched _nothing_ growing up. Neil tried to explain Kevin had shown him a few things since they’d moved in, but Kevin hadn’t shown him the important stuff, and Andrew was determined to fix it.

It didn’t take long to realize Neil didn’t like to sit for movies, but Andrew could convince him to watch TV shows most days; between the two houses, they had a Netflix and a Hulu account, as well as an Amazon Prime account, though Andrew could count on one hand how often they used it.

Between their trips to the gym, Andrew and Neil’s appointments, and their family dinners, they managed to finish most of the list of essentials Andrew had drawn up as well as his own list of to-be-watched.

Aaron and Kevin joined in on the days when Andrew let them, and they didn’t complain too much about their monopoly over the TV. As the days went by and the end of July got closer and closer, they seemed less and less bothered by them taking over and more willing to leave them alone.

Andrew could feel the pressure of the beginning of school beginning to press on him too, and did his best to ignore it. He would know everything he needed to already this year, as well as all his teachers; he was glad he could choose different electives at least, and not have to take those over again, too.

Knowing Neil would be with him helped, too. All four of them had sat down in the Wymack’s kitchen to figure out Neil’s schedule, since the rest of them had already signed up for their own. Kevin and Aaron both told him of teachers to avoid and change out of, and Andrew told him the best electives, since he never paid attention to his teachers anyway.

Neil made sure he had at least one class picked out to share with all of them, even if the school didn’t let him in so late in the season. He also made sure nothing would interfere with after school activities—since he’d decided he’d try out for the soccer team.

Kevin had originally convinced him to do it, despite his worry about conflicting game days, and everyone else had only agreed. Abby and Wymack seemed to agree it would be a good way to start his new school, and were sure they could figure out a way to get at least one of them to every one of their games.

Even going into it so late in the season, Neil seemed excited to try, and it only seemed to make his family more happy for him. Andrew still didn’t know exactly what had brought them together, but they seemed closer to each other because of it.

That particular story had only come up after they’d spent nearly the whole summer together. Andrew could put a few of the pieces together himself—they’d adopted Neil fairly recently, after something bad had happened to him, and they’d moved here to help cope; whatever had happened to Neil had made him jumpy, and anxious, and left him with a severe lack of knowledge when it came to pop culture; Neil, in spite of whatever had happened, seemed to be doing really well.

Andrew had seen a few bad days, mostly on accident. Kevin was never too open about what was wrong when he came to tell them Neil couldn’t come over, but Andrew knew what he meant when he said Neil couldn’t get up some days. Abby and Wymack had only cancelled a total of two times that whole summer, but one of them was because of an appointment he couldn’t miss. The only other time Andrew had ever walked into the locker room to look for them was when he’d seen Neil mid-panic attack, Kevin beside him trying to calm him down. Andrew had waited outside, after that.

Even if Andrew wasn’t a big part of his recovery, or even a major part of his family, it was gratifying to see someone else heal.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you!!!  
> Im on tumbr @thesaroscyle


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